England fast bowler Steve Harmison has refuted claims that he, along with
Andrew Flintoff, Andrew Strauss and other senior members of the squad,
effectively stabbed former captain Kevin Pietersen in the back during his
dispute with sacked coach Peter Moores, saying such a claim “simply isn’t
true.”

Stand by your man: Harmison has denied stabbing Pietersen in the backPhoto: AFP

By Steve Wilson

2:19PM GMT 11 Jan 2009

In his column for the Mail on Sunday, Harmison claims, contrary to reports in the press, that he was never forced to take sides in the dispute between coach and captain and maintains that talk of a rift in the dressing room is wide of the mark.

“I can say without a moment’s hesitation that both Fred [Flintoff] and I supported Kevin as our captain and our leader,” said Harmison.

“Strauss has already made his backing for Kevin quite clear and any suggestion that we turned against him when Hugh Morris, the managing director of England cricket, rang us for our views over the crisis is rubbish.

“The idea that we told Morris that we supported Peter Moores ahead of Kevin is nonsense. To my mind, the only people who have stabbed Kevin in the back are those who chose to leak the information that he had promised to quit the captaincy for the tour to West Indies if Peter remained as coach."

Harmison believes that a resolution could still have been reached had the news of a clash of personality and ideas between Pietersen and Moores been kept “in-house”, rather than brought out in to the public arena, forcing Pietersen’s hand.

“Not only did that leak - and the public debate that followed - result in Kevin’s resignation, it also left Moores, a man I like and respect enormously, out of a job,” said Harmison. “Both events I deeply regret.

“There might still have been a chance for Morris to get Peter and Kevin together to thrash out the issue, and a hugely upsetting and damaging breakdown might have been avoided.”

The Durham paceman also countered headlines in one newspaper that Pietersen was “the most hated man in cricket”, painting the clash between the South African-born batsman and Moores as two passionate personalities working for a common goal of a successful England but with very different opinions as how best to achieve that aim.

“Bringing the issue to a head is Kevin’s way,” said Harmison. “He’s a born winner who demands the highest standards of himself and those around him.”

Looking ahead to a season that contains a home Ashes series in the summer, Harmison claims that, from conversations he’s had with Pietersen, the Hampshire player is focused fully on the England cause and in the coming years will go on to prove himself one of the greatest batsmen of all time.

“Whatever people may think, I know his ambitions are all about playing for England, scoring runs for England and winning for England,” said Harmison.